Sports

Teams confirmed for national championships at GPRC

GORDON ANDERSON/DAILY HERALD-TRIBUNE
GRPC Wolves outside hitter Jaden Cross in recent Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference action against the NAIT Ooks at GPRC. The Wolves have another week and change to prepare for the women's national volleyball tournament, which runs March 8-10 at GPRC.

The GPRC Wolves women’s volleyball team is getting set to host the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association national volleyball tournament.

The eight-team crucible, which includes five provincial champions, two wildcards and the host, runs March 8-10 at GPRC.

GPRC will be the only team to make the tournament who didn’t play in their respective conference championships but Wolves head coach Chantelle LaMotte thinks all the teams are on equal footing at the moment.

“We’re training and we’re prepping just like anyone else who is going to nationals,” LaMotte said. “So, in terms of a challenge, it’s the same as any other team we would face. We’re prepping and we’re getting ready.”

The players also share in the responsibility to keep the edge sharp on the blade, so to speak.

“As players, our responsibilities are to show up on time, to practice and be ready to go,” Wolves libero Mckenna Wolstenholme said. “(We need to get into the gym) half- an-hour or 45 minutes early to get (prepared) so once it’s go time we can start practising.”

“(We also have to make sure we’re) still going to the gym, (getting the proper) nutrition and making sure we’re (doing the same things) we did all season and not doing anything special,” Wolstenholme added.

The eight team list is finally set after a weekend of conference championships.

Along with the Wolves, the teams will be the Toronto-based Humber Hawks, the Lakeland College Rustlers; the Halifax-based Mount Saint Vincent University Mystics; the Victoria Island University Mariners; the Montreal-based Andre-Laurendeau Boomerang; the Quebec City-based Les Elan du Cegep Garneau and the New Westminster, B.C. Douglas College Royals.

The Rustlers, coached by Austin Dyer, won the national championship last year and finished No. 2 in the final national rankings released on Feb. 20. Douglas College was the final No. 1 seed.

Practising is all fine and good but having a couple of weeks off might dull the blade a bit but the Wolves have that covered as best they can.

“We’ll do some exhibition games stuff and then we’ll do that within our training,” LaMotte said. “So, that’s what we’re doing to prepare.”

The Wolves know the all-around competition they’re going to face will be significantly tougher than the majority of the teams they’ve played this year, but the libero says the club can’t be too concerned with the clubs coming here to win.

That’s their plan, too.

“Coming into nationals we just need to tweak focusing on ourselves and our side of the court and the things we need to do to put the other team into trouble,” Wolstenholme said.